Chapter Text
It'd be perfect, the tale of the romance of a century... if he wasn't Spider-Man.
When he stares at his clothes the next day, still stumped on what to wear, he finally brings it up to Venom again. A fed, hopefully full-for-the-next-few-hours symbiote is much easier to set boundaries with than a hungry symbiote.
"Okay, so," he says out loud. "Venom? We've gotta work out what to do. I really... I like him, and I can't keep up with you and him at the same time. D'you think you can keep quiet for a few hours? Half the night?"
Venom grumbles a bit before asking, If I am quiet... Could there be sex?
He snorts. "I don't know," he admits. "Sex on a first date isn't exactly guaranteed. And you definitely can't do anything, okay? No matter what. If you think you can't stay inside and quiet, we've gotta figure out a different plan."
Hmph. Fine.
It's the best he can ask for. "Thanks for understanding," he supposes. "Okay, we've gotta get there first, so help me choose what I'm gonna wear and then we can head off. I'll grab some chocolate for you on the way so you can eat too."
The black one, Venom advises, We look cool.
"Cool. Cool is good." He supposes it doesn't really matter, but feeling confident is another thing, especially because Matt already makes his heart go weird. He shrugs on the shirt and buttons it up. "Okay. We're gonna do great. It's going to be a good night, and you're happy, I'm happy..." His phone buzzes. "We're gonna ignore that." Even as he says it he's picking it up, checking what's going on on the police scanner, then puts it down. "Nope. Ignoring it, they can deal with it." But still puts an earbud in so he can hear on his way.
This does not seem to be ignoring it, Venom comments. How many dates equals sex?
He's not sure what's worse: a potential super-powered villain in Manhattan or Venom's one track mind. He gets the symbiote's problem though. They've only found two alternatives to the carnivorous diet Venom craves: chocolate (which only helps for so long) and the dopamine rush associated with orgasms. His wallet can only stretch so far to solve the hunger issue, and dopamine supplements just don't work the same.
"God, you are so horny," he half-complains, half-teases. "C'mon." He heads downstairs just to make a show of saying see you later to Aunt May, then he's out of the door and walking to one of the good spots he can 'change' from. "Anyway, it depends. But... I don't want to rush it."
Is rushing it bad?
"Not the sex," he clarifies, feeling like a very harassed Sex Ed teacher, "but also rushing sex is bad. It's just rushing to sex isn't great when you really like someone. Things have gotta go right. Otherwise you screw it up and you don't really get another chance. And I'm already bad at relationships."
Why? Is sex not enjoyable for most people? Venom asks.
"No, it just isn't... When you like someone, you want there to be more than just sex. You want a connection, you want to spend time with them no matter what you're doing together. Something real and... and like us. Understanding between each other, yeah?" he supposes. "I want to see if I've got that connection with Matt. Sex is great but it's only a part of it."
Venom thinks on that, and before he can come to any real conclusions about it, the code for a super-powered event in progress comes across the scanner, calling for immediate backup.
"Shit." He sighs, ducking into the nearest alley. "Okay, suit up time, buddy."
Where once, Venom spread slowly across the outside of his suit, now it's nearly instantaneous, covering Peter's whole body in the familiar black spidey suit. We are ready to save people, Venom says.
"You're so right," he agrees, webbing up to a building before running over the rooftops, building up his momentum before he reaches buildings tall enough to swing fast from. He listens to the information coming over the scanner, then makes his mind up properly. "Okay. We gotta call Matt. He'll understand. Probably. I mean, I hope he hasn't met Speed Demon, but it's important someone stops him, and the longer it takes, the more he can do. It'll be fine. He'll understand." He still doesn't feel psyched up enough to actually call.
He saves people too, Venom points out. Maybe he will be impressed.
The pep talk helps. "Yeah. Maybe," he agrees, taking a breath. "Okay. I'm gonna call him." Which is both to make sure he does and also a head's up that he needs access to his phone under the suit, bringing up the contact easy to call Matt.
Make sure you are confident, Venom tells him.
He bites back his laugh in time for the ringing to stop.
Matt answers fairly quickly, "Hey, Peter."
"Hey. Matt." He compensates for the anxiety by sounding stupidly chirpy. "About the date. Um. Something's come up. In Lower East Side, police scanner. Sorry, it's Speed Demon. I'm not gonna make it in time." Naturally, he rushes it out too, which is good because any break-off would make it sound like he's standing him up.
"Thought I heard sirens," Matt comments. "We can reschedule. Go save the day."
He is impressed! Venom comments. Stay cool.
God, the relief is real. "Thanks, Matt. Sorry. I can call you when I'm done, if you're still free. Or awake. I'm guessing 'free' is more appropriate though."
"Alright," Matt agrees. "We'll see. Talk to you later."
He grins, taking a moment to focus on where he's going before he says to Venom, "He's great, right?"
Yes. You're sure he cannot find out about me?
"Extremely sure," he confirms. "I'll make it up to you."
How?
He hadn't thought that far ahead. "... Chocolate cake once we've saved everyone?"
A whole chocolate cake?
"Yeah. Size dependent on how much money I've got," he points out. "One day we're gonna find a chocolate fountain and they're gonna let us just go wild with it."
What is a chocolate fountain? Venom asks.
"Ohhh, that's gonna have to wait. We'll find one one day," he says, heading off to the sirens.
Once Speed Demon has been securely webbed up and won't be running anywhere, he goes to ring Matt before pausing, debating between texting and calling him, then ends up calling anyway. He's got the time, while Venom gets to devour his chocolate cake. Which just makes him hungry, but that's probably because he skipped dinner to prep for the date that then got skipped, plus running around after a speedster is decidedly calorie-consuming. But it's also way too late to do more than make a mental note to grab pizza on the way home.
It's only after Venom licks it when he asks, as the phone is ringing, Do you want some?
"Nah, that's yours," he says, because Venom not getting hungry enough to bite someone's head off again is way more important.
He swallows the whole thing in one go the moment Peter tells him it's his. Peter stares. He's never going to get used to that.
Then Matt answers the phone. "Hey. How did it go?"
"Fine! Cops've got him. Took longer than I hoped though."
"Glad to hear it," Matt says. "I've got a thing tonight, but I'd love a rain check on that date."
He tries very hard not to sound disappointed. "Yeah! Me too. We'll figure it out. Text me when you're free?"
"Sure thing," Matt agrees.
"Cool," he grins. "Have a good night, Matt."
"You too, Peter. And hey, good work," Matt says.
His grin widens. "Nice to feel appreciated once in a while. Don't get shot out there, yeah?"
"I'll do my best," Matt assures him.
He is proud of us, Venom says happily.
"Call me if you need backup," he says, gesturing a thumbs up to Venom instead of answering properly.
"Of course," Matt agrees. "I think I've got tonight handled, at least. See you again soon. Bye."
Peter grins, lowering the phone as Matt hangs up, basking in the happiness before saying, "Okay, let's go get pizza. Maybe we can get some chocolate cookies too."
Yes please.